New show opens at Hollingsworth Gallery in Palm Coast

Wednesday

Feb 5, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By BARBARA SALTERCorrespondentThe newest exhibit at the Hollingsworth Gallery will feature a variety of firsts. It will be artist Violet Skipp Haffner’s first one-artist show. It will also be the first time that the Hollingsworth will be showcasing what gallery owner J J Graham calls, “alien art.”And for those who attend, it will be the first time that they’ve seen anything quite like Haffner’s work.“Violet has the ability to create what I call alien objects,” Graham said. “I always tell my kids ‘you have to learn how to draw, how to manipulate space and form and apply light. These are all the things that we learn, but if you ever make some alien object, something that we haven’t seen before, then you’ve really made some art.’ I look for that in an artist.” “The thing that I enjoy most about Violet’s work is how different it is than mine — the meticulous nature of it. I paint with my body. I’m into fluidity and these types of things. It’s a whole different mindset that goes into her work.”Instead of paints and brushes, Haffner’s primary tools are found objects — things she picks up on the street, in junkyards, souvenir shops, or wherever she happens to be. The show, which opens Saturday, includes more than 25 pieces of Haffner’s work — dolls, whimsical sculptures of classical musicians, glitzy table legs that stand on their own, and other intriguing assemblages. Haffner agrees that her art and her approach to it are far different from Graham’s. She prefers structure.“I do,” she stated emphatically. “I really do. Tell me I can freelance and I freak out!”Her father, a sign painter, instilled in her the preference for structure.“Just his whole stance and the way he would lay things out was very organized. I guess that had a big impression on me because I did not end up becoming a painter, per se, or someone who is more freelance.”But there was never a question in her mind that she wanted to make art — her way. Haffner and her family — she was one of nine children — moved to Ormond Beach from Connecticut when she was 12. She credits summer recreation programs in Ormond Beach, Holly Hill and Daytona Beach for providing her with the only art training she received as a youth. The classes she attended were focused on construction.“I took everything from glass-blowing to flower-making to leather-working,” she said. “It was all hands on. Everything was from scratch back then. There wasn’t even hot glue in those days.”That’s OK with Haffner. To this day, she prefers doing things by hand to using mechanical devices. “I’d much rather push a broom than use a vacuum,” she said.Haffner eschews technology and doesn’t even have an email address. What she likes is using her hands to assemble things. One of her earliest career aspirations was to work on an assembly line at a factory. She didn’t pursue that, but she continued to make things while raising a family or working in “real” jobs.“I was always getting my work out there by participating in local shows. I was able to supplement my income by selling things.”The turning point — from crafts to fine art — happened in 1976 when she collaborated with her brother Steve Skipp, an artist who now works at Flagler College in St. Augustine. They created their first piece, “Imitation of Life,” in memory of one of their sisters was killed in an accident.For Haffner, creating art is her way of dealing with emotions.“I believe creative expression has the ability to heal wounds, both for the artist and the viewer,” she said.She continued creating her artwork using mundane objects that she finds wherever she goes. She even used the broken remote control from her own TV in “Charlotte,” one of the pieces in the show. “Amadeus, Fantasy in D,” another piece in the upcoming exhibit, sprang from a plaster souvenir she picked up that “was just aching for painting.”Much of Haffer’s work is inspired by music. Her tastes vary and include Counting Crows and Coldplay as well as classical composers.“I like music I can relate to. A lyric will resonate and stay with me. The resulting piece relates to my emotional state at the time.”The music-themed pieces in the show include one she calls “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”“Every mother can relate to this,” said Haffner. “It‘s the desire to put a cocoon around your children and protect them forever.” Haffner is “nervous and ecstatic” about her first solo show. Individual pieces of her work have been shown in galleries and shows all over the country, but this will be the first time so much of her art will be showcased in one location.“It’ll be wonderful to see my pieces displayed in a gallery,” she said.Haffner is dedicating the show to her family and friends, especially her son Jason Zahn, who died in 2005.“He was outgoing, beautiful, sensitive and a wonderful artist,” she said. “His passing taught me the reality of living day-to day.”Petra Iston of the Hollingsworth Gallery is curating the show.“What I like about Violet’s work is that there is a story behind each piece,” said Iston. “Her choice of subject and her use materials are creative and inspired.”